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Competition in the global marketplace for tablet computers is growing. And while Apple isn't necessarily looking over its shoulder just yet, the era of the "pad" is clearly taking hold as everyone seems to be gearing up for an attempt at capturing some of the iPad's gargantuan market share.

On Monday, MMi covered Netbook PC pioneer Asus' first tablet offering, the Eee Pad, which is gratuitously boasting iPad alternative attributes like Adobe Flash compatibility, a USB port, and even a camera. But the Eee Pad is now joined by another tablet similarly introduced at the Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan this week. And, together, these two fresh offerings have some industry analysts speculating that Asia may soon give rise to the next big thing in tablet computers - at least in overseas markets.

When it comes to challenging the iPad, MSI professes to be ready for battle with its "Wind Pad," a tablet that will be available with Windows 7 or Google's Android operating system. Either versions sport a 10-inch touchscreen, a 1.66-GHz Intel Atom processor, 2 GB of system memory, and a 32-GB SSD. The MSI product will reportedly run less than $500 and be available this year. Makers of the Eee Pad, on the other hand, have not yet announced a potential release time frame for its new device. But both new "pads" are expected to be priced well below Apple's iPad.

Although no one knows for sure if MSI and Asus will strike gold with their tablet PCs, in a world where two million iPads are sold within the first 60 days of launch, there is clearly major market demand for these products. And, as a result, the environment should prove friendly to any substantive tablet offering.

Of course, it's yet to be seen just how "substantive" the Wind Pad and Eee Pad will ultimately be.